Ka Osang said she couldnÂ’t ask for a better person than her husband who had given color and a new meaning to her life. As a husband, Ka Bel gave his wife love, utmost respect and strived to provide for his family.

In 2006, the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at the Philippine Heart Center, where Ka Bel was detained for his alleged participation in the botched February coup.

The five decades were not always blissful, but the love they shared was tested and proven and made even stronger over the years as they weathered storms of challenges together.

Instead of feeling bitter, Ka Osang appeared to be a vision of courage and strength even as his death not only meant losing a husband but also a best friend.

She smiled as she described their relationship as a "developed love".

Who was Ka Bel?

Most people identified Ka Bel as a veteran of the parliament of the streets and a lawmaker, but only a few are aware of his background.

In a statement by Anakpawis, it said that Ka Bel, at an early age, volunteered as a courier for the guerillas during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. He also served as a farm hand and janitor after the war to support his studies. He then worked as gasoline boy, messenger, bus driver and then a taxi driver.

A strike against unfair labor practices firmed up his determination to fight alongside the working class after many were injured and three protesting workers died when police attacked their picket line. >more

"Saan ka nakakita ng dalawang hindi magkakilala na nagsama?" she said. Their lives crossed when then 15-year-old Ka Osang ran away from home and took a cab driven by Ka Bel who was 26. He offered her a place to stay when she told him that she had nowhere else to go.

Her father was angry when he found out that she stayed with a man for three days.

As years went by, Ka Osang began to love and understand everything about the man she married, and even his sense of humor.

In an interview during a tribute at his wake at the Iglesia Filipino Independiente (IFI) church in Manila, she said that Ka Bel would want her to tell reporters in the event of his death, his call for President Arroyo to step down.

Unlike other public officials, Ka Bel stayed simple and lived humbly. In fact, he only declared P50,000 as assets in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SAL), making him the poorest among congressmen.

Ofel said her father even applied for a loan in order to continue paying for a house in San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.

Ocampo remembered Ka Bel as a very principled man and a highly effective leader who never lacked the passion and the drive to represent not only the toiling masses in Congress but also the other marginalized sectors of society.

Ka Bel served as vice-president and one of the three representatives of Bayan Muna partylist in Congress from February 2001 to November 2003. In 2004, he was elected as representative for Anakpawis and was on his third term when he died.

Ka BelÂ’s chief-of-staff Lualhati Roque joined ranks with thousands of people who mourned his death. For her, Ka Bel symbolized what public servants should be--fearless, incorruptible and ready for any consequences in fighting for what is right.

"We will miss his presence in the peopleÂ’s movement and in the militant labor movement led by KMU. But we will carry on his fight and struggles," Labog said.

Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., in his tribute to Ka Bel, said that as Anakpawis representative he was "a source of embarrassment to those who trudged the easy path to power, pelf and fame."

"His life puts to shame many of our brethren in politics and in religion who claim to love and serve the poor," said Pimentel.

Pimentel praised Ka BelÂ’s transition from being a firebrand "who in the minds of the conservators of the status quo meant being an arsonist who would burn anything which stood on the way to liberating his fellow workers" to a torch bearer "who in the minds of all well meaning citizens meant illuminating the path of those who search for the better life in a democratic and peaceful manner."

His journey may have been cut short but those he left behind are determined to continue his legacy of being true to the calling of serving the people and the country. #